Broad Foundation Announces New Class for School Governance Institute
The Los Angeles-based Broad Foundation has announced that it will train twenty-eight new school board members from ten urban school districts across the country in how to increase student achievement through improved governance at its Broad Institute for School Boards.
Attendees will review case studies on reform movements in cities such as Dallas; Buffalo, New York; Oakland, California; San Diego; and Houston. They will also learn about policy development, civic involvement, district accountability, and how to redesign school districts for student success. The board members are from the following school districts: Aldine Independent School District near Houston; Dallas Independent School District; District of Columbia Public Schools; Clayton County Public Schools in Jonesboro, Georgia; Fresno Unified School District; Providence Public Schools in Rhode Island; the School District of Philadelphia; New Orleans Public Schools; St. Louis Public Schools; and Portland Public Schools in Oregon.
"If we want public education to improve in this country, we need to dramatically improve the performance of school boards in the largest urban districts," said foundation founder Eli Broad. "While school board members are well-meaning, too often they lack experience in governance. The Broad Institute is designed to give them a 'crash course' in how they can be instruments of change to demand — and achieve — better student performance."
Since 2002, the institute has trained 109 school board members from twenty-nine districts, representing 2.7 million school children.
